Counting Stars
by Kitty-chan33
Summary: Left amnesic, lost, and lonely by an accident, you try to start your life all over again in Konoha. Of course, no one expected the new girl would be so popular with the boys... [You x Many]
1. Crashing Down

A/N: This was written a while ago. Like, _really_ a while ago. Before-the-fillers-a-while ago. That explains why Sasuke's still here. Anyway, I kinda thought this needed a little love, since practically _no one's_ read it yet. It's been hanging at out at my LJ for quite a while (almost a year?), and at TONFA for even longer.

Disclaimer: Kishimoto-sensei wouldn't want this slop.

**Counting Stars  
Chapter I: Crashing Down  
**

It was Friday. You didn't normally mind Fridays, save for this one. You had an English test 2nd period, and 1st period have drawn to a close only moments before. You grudgingly made your way to the English classroom, scowling slightly the whole way. You usually didn't mind English tests either, except for the fact that you'd neglected to study for this one. You clenched your teeth as you began to descend a stairway, trying to remember the social web that had been woven in Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night.'

'Does Olivia end up with Sebastian or the Duke?' you thought frantically, reaching into your bag for your copy of the play. You hadn't _actually _finished reading the play the night before…reading fanfiction online had piqued your interest just a little bit more… As soon as your fingertips brushed against the smooth cover of the book, you felt the wrong part of your foot come into contact with the edge of a stair. You looked up from your bag just in time to see the stairway sort of…_jump _at you. You shut your eyes instinctively, and in a burst of pain, you felt your body tumble down the rest of the flight of stairs. When you reached the landing, you didn't dare open your eyes. After all, you'd just fallen down a flight of _stairs_, at _school! _What would people _think?! _You lay still for a moment, your head throbbing, waiting for someone to come help you up. But after a few more seconds, you blacked out from the pain.

After what felt like seconds and hours at the same time of floating through unconsciousness, you returned to your senses a bit. You kept your eyes shut, though, as you reveled in the softness beneath you…such a nice feeling for your aching body. Suddenly, as if they'd just entered the room, you heard voices murmuring to each other.

"You say you found her in the woods?" a man's voice asked.

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei," a girl's voice replied. "When we found her, she was bleeding really badly, so I bandaged her up a bit…" The girl's voice trailed off proudly.

"And I can see that you've done a very good job, Sakura," the man said.

"Kakashi-sensei's right, Sakura-chan!" came a boy's voice rather loudly. "She'll be better in no time!"

"Urusai, Naruto!" the girl hissed.

"Ahh…gomen, gomen," the boy sighed.

"Oi, Kakashi-sensei," another boy's voice said sternly. His voice was deeper than the first boy's…more mature-sounding. "Should we really be taking care of this girl?"

"…Sasuke-kun…" the girl gasped, sounding confused and nervous at the same time.

"She could be a foreign shinobi, using genjutsu to pretend to be injured just so she could enter the village unnoticed, and then attack when we're least expecting it." You could hear the girl gasp at this.

'What? 'Shinobi?' 'Genjutsu?' _Huh_?' Unable to feign unconsciousness any longer, you slowly opened your eyes. You wanted to see your rescuers.

"Omigosh, she's waking up!" the girl squealed, rushing over to the side of the bed. For a moment, all you saw was a blur of pink beside you. But as your eyes came into focus, you saw a pink-haired girl kneeling next you, staring at you with her bright green eyes. Wait…pink hair? What?

You sat up with a grunt, your whole body aching. You looked around the room at the others. Behind the girl stood three males, one obviously about twice the age of the others. All present wore identical headbands; the oldest covered his left eye.

"Wh-Where am I?" you asked numbly. The man was the first to speak up.

"You're in my house," he said, running a hand over his wild silver mane. You looked at him, confused. "--Which is located in Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

"Oh," you said, blinking. Wherever that was, you did not know. "But who are you?"

"My name is Hatake Kakashi," said the man. "And these three are my students." He motioned to the others.

"I'm Haruno Sakura," said the girl. "I found you out in the woods when my teammates and I were training. You were really hurt, so I fixed you up. Was I gentle enough, 'nee-chan?" But before you could answer, one of the two younger boys --the blonde-- hopped onto the bed, jostling you and making you cringe from the pain.

"And I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" he piped happily, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm the one who carried you here after Sakura-chan found you!" He paused momentarily to flex his muscles showily, still grinning. "I know, I know, it's no big deal," he continued. "Saving babes like you is what I do best, after all!"

'Babes like…_me_?' You momentarily blocked out Naruto's babbling to put a bruised hand to your cheek as you blushed.

"Y'know, you're kinda cute when you blush," said Naruto happily. You smiled softly as you locked eyes with the blonde. But the moment was quickly cut short when Sakura brought her fist down on Naruto's head.

"Stop bothering her!" Sakura yelled, yanking the poor boy off the bed. "Can't you see she's really hurt?! She'll never get better if all she sees is your stupid face!" As Naruto pouted quietly behind Kakashi, Sakura scolding him even more, you glanced across the room. There, leaning against the wall, was a somber-looking boy; dark hair, raven eyes, smooth skin…he was practically the pinnacle of male beauty. He stared at you intently, as if he was trying to carve the image of you into his mind. After a few moments, you caught his eyes, but he looked away almost immediately, his cheeks tinged with the tiniest bit of pink.

"Hey," you said delicately to the boy. "You didn't tell me your name yet." He glared at you.

"Uchiha Sasuke," he said gravely, then turned and quickly left the room. You stared after him, wondering why he'd left so suddenly. On the other side of the room, Kakashi cleared his throat.

"Customarily," said the man. "Introductions have two parts." Oh, he wanted you to introduce yourself

"I'm--" you cut yourself off, wracking your brain for the answer to such a simple request. "I'm…I'm…" You stared at your hands in your lap, unable to find the right word for the situation.

'Oh no!' your mind screamed. 'I can't remember my name!' All at once, your confusion seemed to multiply ten fold, and tears streaked down your face.

'I…I can't remember my name," you said quietly, sniffling here and there. Silence reigned supreme for a moment, as the others in the room let the information slowly sink in.

"Oh, you poor thing, 'nee-chan," said Sakura after a while, clasping her hands over her chest. By then, you'd hidden your face in your palms, and had begun sobbing quietly into them. When you thought about it, you couldn't remember a single thing about yourself…not where you were from, who your parents were, or even how old you were.

"That must be one big bump on the head," said Naruto, rubbing the lump Sakura had recently given him. Kakashi sighed.

"Since you don't even know your own name, I don't suppose you could tell us know you got into the condition," Kakashi prodded. You hiccupped, then shook your head, allowing the tears to fall freely. It was quite a mystery to all of you how you had gotten so hurt when you were all alone out in the woods.

**End Chapter I.**

A/N: Yeah. Um. It needs work. And possibly a second chapter.

And, if you feel like it, you can friend me at LiveJournal; my username there is kittychan33. (I know, it's so bummish of me to advertise my own LJ...) But yeah, new friends are always good.


	2. Under the Covers

A/N: This was previously Chapters 2 and 3, but I combined them; they seemed too short. I _did_, however,cut out a chunk in the middle explaining the Naruto-world basics, though. It seemed pointless, since pretty much everyone knows what occurred during the Chuunin Exam Arc. (I can't believe how far the dub's gotten! It seems like just yesterday that Haku and Zabuza were the big bad guys!)

And, just for the record, my spell check wanted to substitute 'Sasuke' with 'Sapsucker.' xDDDDD

Disclaimer: snerf

****

Counting Stars

Chapter II: Under the Covers

"Well," said Kakashi rather tiredly. "This is quite a predicament you've gotten yourself into, young lady." You parted your fingers slightly so you could peek out angrily at the man, stifling a loud wail of the meanest thing you could think of saying. Instead, you continued to blubber meekly.

"But what're we supposed to _do_, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, sitting down next to you on the bed. She put an arm around your shoulders as you cried, resting her head softly against yours. Kakashi sighed.

"This isn't the type of matter I'm accustomed to dealing with," said the silver-haired man. "And by all rights, I shouldn't be dealing with it now. But due to the state of the village…" His voice trailed off, leaving a dark feeling in the air. Sakura's arm seemed to lay heavier upon your shoulders at this moment. The room remained quiet for a while longer, until the sound of footsteps approached.

Sasuke appeared in the doorway, with a tray of five steaming cups in his hands. He said nothing as he set down the tray on a small table next to the bed. Finally, he broke the deafening silence as he gently shoved one of the hot cups into your hands.

"Tea," he said simply as you inhaled the steam rising from your cup. You sipped it delicately, and upon finding out how bitter it was, you scrunched up your face and spat it back into the cup.

"If only I could be the new Hokage," Naruto said between loud slurps. "I'd let you stay here, for sure!" Another gulp of tea. "In fact, I'd make you stay. This village could use some more good-looking girls."

You saw Sakura's fingernails whiten as she tightened her grip on the teacup; the amount of damage she could considerably do with it was astounding.

"But you're not the Hokage," Kakashi reminded the blonde boy. "So this isn't up to you."

"I vote she stays," Naruto said almost defiantly. Suddenly, as if you'd just entered the room, the topic of the conversation hit you.

"You'd send me away?" you asked nervously, your eyes darting around the room. The three young ones all avoided your gaze. Kakashi, however, did not.

"It's possible," he said, his visible eye boring into you. "If there's any evidence that you're a threat to this village, you'll be expelled immediately. Either that, or you'd simply be killed."

"But how could I possibly be a threat to anyone?" you whined, tears coming back to your eyes. "I don't even know my own name, let alone how to be a threat to society!" As you began to sob again, Sakura pried the teacup out of your fingers so you wouldn't spill. "Please…you have to believe me…" Kakashi made his way to the door, then spoke without even bothering to turn and face you.

"I'll summon a meeting with the other jounin of the village. If it's agreed upon, you may stay." And without waiting for a response, he left, sliding the door shut behind him.

"Wow," said Sakura quietly, once she was sure Kakashi was out of earshot. "Kakashi-sensei is only ever this serious when something bad happens…"

"It's because of all the crazy stuff that's been going on around here lately," said Naruto as he joined you and Sakura on the bed. "We just have to be careful, y'know?" He smiled at you, but your only reply was a nod. Your head felt stuffed up from so much crying; you sniffed loudly.

"I'm really not dangerous," you said softly, for lack of anything else to say.

"We know, 'nee-chan," said Sakura gently, her arm wrapping around your shoulders again. You leaned into her touch, reveling in her kind touch. It was obvious that no one in the room thought you were a threat, and for that, you were grateful. The room fell silent once more, only your sniffles breaking it.

"If you're allowed to stay here, what'll we do about your name?" Naruto asked suddenly, as if the thought had just hit him.

"Don't know," you replied stuffily. "It's possible that I'll remember my name one of these days, right?" You looked around the room for approval, and Sakura nodded.

"But what'll we call you 'til then?" asked Naruto. " 'Hey, you' doesn't really seem to fit." You laughed weakly; Naruto was trying to cheer you up. You thought it was sweet of him, really, to take it upon himself to make a complete —and potentially dangerous— stranger feel more comfortable. Sasuke, however, rolled his eyes and began to pick up the empty teacups that'd been abandoned around the room.

" 'Yanagi,' " said Sakura suddenly, a smile coming to her face. "We found you under a willow tree in the forest, so it makes sense. It's just perfect, isn't it?" You twitched.

"Sure," you replied a little awkwardly. What kind of stupid name was she trying to give you? …Yanagi? At least it was only temporary —as soon as you remembered your real name, 'Yanagi' would be no more.

"Really? You like it?" the pink-haired girl asked in what sounded like a sigh of relief. You slapped on your most believable smile.

"Of course," you replied. "It's…nice." Your smile, however, faltered a bit as you said this, your eye twitching.

After having been named, the evening passed rather quickly for you. Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke proved to be good company for a girl with amnesia —or rather, Sakura and Naruto did. Sasuke managed to keep himself annoyingly quiet most of the time, and only ever spoke up to either insult Naruto or correct some "obvious" error the blonde made as he explained this strange new world of shinobi, clans, and ranked missions to you.

Amidst a melodramatic reenactment of Sasuke nearly fainting in fear during Part II of the Chuunin Exams (starring only Naruto) while fighting a very snake-like man, the door to the bedroom slid open and Kakashi appeared in the doorway.

"Good news, everyone," he said, a grin evident on what little of his face you could see. He eye was looking at you. "This young lady may stay." You smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Really, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked happily.

"On one condition." You cringed. There was always a condition. "You're to become a medic-nin as soon as possible. There's a severe lack of them these—"

"A _what_?" you cut in rather rudely. The silver-haired man blinked.

"A medic-nin," Kakashi repeated. "Short for 'medical ninja.' You accompany and heal the shinobi who've been injured during their missions." You raised an eyebrow.

"That's a great offer, but I don't think I can take you up on it," you said, an apologetic look on your face.

"And why is that?" Kakashi asked. He probably already knew your answer, but you told him anyway.

"Well, I'm not exactly a ninja," you said in your best stating-the-obvious voice.

"I anticipated as much!" Kakashi said in an oddly happy tone. "Which is why I volunteered our Number One Rookie of the Year, Uchiha Sasuke, to be your private, one-on-one instructor of the ninja arts!" The silver-haired man gestured to Sasuke, wiggling his fingers for effect.

This, however, was met by dead silence.

But within a few seconds, Kakashi's proposition was met by four babbling objections. You weren't exactly sure what Naruto and Sakura were upset about, but you knew Sasuke was absolutely _not _willing to teach you a thing. And you…you simply weren't ready for such a huge undertaking.

"Oh, but all the arrangements have already been made," Kakashi replied almost sympathetically. "It's too late to change anything now."

"What about the Academy?" Sasuke challenged, almost pouting. "Aren't summer classes starting soon?"

"They are," said Kakashi offhandedly. "But they progress very slowly, since they're intended for young children. The council and I agreed that you're the best candidate for teaching someone the basics of the ninja arts." Sasuke scowled, crossing his arms and glaring at the floor. "Anyhow, " Kakashi continued. "Our young lady should be ready to begin her training in a day or two, after which she'll be moving in with you so to maximize your teaching time. Which means—" he grinned at Sasuke. "—that you'd better set up another bedroom."

The raven-haired boy groaned quietly.

****

End Chapter II.

A/N: The setting-things-up chapters are always pretty lame in my fics… I tried my best to not make this sound like I'd schemed up the basic plot months ago and was just trying to get to the fun parts. But for some reason, I don't think I did a very good job. sweatdrop

Who can spot the transition between the original second and third chapters?


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